Lina: Growing Up
by Shira
Summary: Ever wonder what the life of Lina was like before she met Naga? No? Well, then I thought of it for you! Enjoy! Remember, this isn't fact, this came right out of my overactive imagination.
1. Little Lina

**Lina: Growing Up**

_Heyas! You know, after I rewrote "Zelgadis: Growing Up" then I decided to do one for Lina, too! She's got kind of a hazy past... I'll use as many facts as I can or know, but most of this is straight from my imagination, and, like with my other story, this isn't fact. No one knows how Lina's childhood REALLY was, except maybe the people that came up with Slayers. So, read on! I don't own Slayers or Lina, but I own my ideas and my original characters. So NYAH!!! I DO own stuff!_

Lina Inverse was about six years old. She had shoulder-length red hair that she liked to wear in a ponytail, and usually had on anything but a dress. Her parents would beg her to dress like a girl, but Lina refused. She explained to them that she couldn't do anything if she was wearing a dress. She couldn't climb trees or do cartwheels or go swimming in the creek or anything. Then her parents would reply, "You shouldn't be doing anything you can't do in a dress! Be more ladylike! Be more like your sister!" 

Her sister. Luna Inverse. Luna was the perfect little girl. She was about nine years old, and was a true lady. She wore a dress and shoes at all times, let her hair loose, and had the politest language found in a child. She had long purple hair that usually fell down over her eyes. Lina complained that hiding her eyes couldn't be ladylike, but her mother said that lowering your eyes before a man is a sure sign of being a lady. Covering your eyes was one step above that. 

All anyone ever talked about was "Luna this" and "Luna that," never "Lina" anything. Lina admitted that she was a little jealous, but mostly she wanted attention. And she also wanted to be different. She wanted to be as different from Luna as it was possible to be. That's why she didn't wear dresses or act ladylike. She didn't want to be anything like Luna, because she was so special and important. Lina hoped that if she were different, she'd be noticed because she'd stand out. But, no, everyone just wanted her to be just like Luna. 

Due to this, Lina was often very sour to Luna. Generally, Luna had a kind word to say back, which spoiled Lina's bad mood, but one time Lina had done the extreme, and Luna hadn't taken it very easily. After that, Lina's life became hell when she was in the presence of her sister. Now she avoided Luna whenever possible, to the extent of hiding in the ladies' powder room. 

One day, Lina had run away, and was hiding in some bushes by the road, when she heard the sound of hooves on the dirt road. She looked between the branches, and saw a horse-drawn wagon driving past with two men in it. One of the men had long blonde hair and a beard, and looked very old. The other was shorter and younger, and had black hair and a goatee. To Lina's shock, the wagon slowed, and then stopped right in front of their house. 

Momentarily forgetting about Luna, Lina dashed over to the house, shouting, "Some guys are here! Some guys are here!" 

Her mother came out and berated her for running and shouting like that. "Act more like a young lady should. Just do what Luna does." 

Lina grumbled, and followed behind her mother, who was going to greet the two men. Luna appeared as well, and stood beside their mother. She curtsied, and hello, "Pleased to meet you." 

Lina was ushered out beside her as well, and her mother told her to greet them. Lina smiled, and waved, saying, "Hello." Her mother quickly pushed her back behind her skirt, and started talking to the men. 

Being the curious six-year-old that she was, Lina peeked her head around her mother's big skirt, and paid very close attention to what they were saying. 

"We are scouts for the High Order of Ciepheed," the older man said. "We are sent to collect youngsters with the potential to become Knights of Ciepheed." 

Lina covered her mouth so she wouldn't gasp. Could she be the one they were talking about? She could be a Knight of Ciepheed? She could work for the Gods and use magic? She could do all that? 

The younger man said, "We have scried, and found that your daughter, Luna, has great potential to serve the Gods in such a way." 

Lina's hopes dropped down to the pit of her stomach. It wasn't her. It was Luna. It was always Luna. Everything was about Luna. Never Lina. Lina felt tears slide down her cheeks. Ashamed to be crying in public, Lina turned around and ran for the creek. 

When she got there, she sat down on the bank, and stuck her bare feet in the cool water. She tried to tell herself she was happy it was Luna. She wouldn't have to run away from her if she wasn't here. Luna could go away and be a Knight. Knights weren't ladylike, though. Maybe Luna wouldn't go? Maybe they'd take her instead? 

Truth be told, Lina loved magic. She loved the idea of it, she loved the stories behind it, and she loved the prospect that she might use it some day. She wished every night that there was some way she could learn magic. Then maybe she could turn Luna into a frog, or make her disappear or blow up or something. She could fly away from her family, and be a sorceress for hire. 

But Luna was the one they were asking to use magic, not her. It was always Luna, always. At dinner parties, Luna went down there and had fun, but their parents made Lina stay upstairs unless she wore a dress, which she obviously refused. Everyone would coo over how ladylike Luna was, and how she would go far someday. 

Well, she was going far, all right. Far away. For good. Lina would never see her again. 

After a while, Lina's tears went away. She's almost hoped someone would come out to help her say it was all right, and there was nothing to cry about. Her mother hugged Luna and helped her tears stop, but she'd never done that with Lina. Line had learned that if she wanted anything done, she had to do it herself, and her way. If she did it their way, then they'd do it for her, but she didn't want to do it their way. She wanted her own way. Lina's way. 

When it started getting dark, Lina heard her father call, "Lina, get in the house!" 

Lina stood up, and wiped off her face. When she got to the house, she dashed up the stairs and went into her room so her parents couldn't see that she'd been crying. "Aren't you coming down for dinner?" her father called from downstairs. 

Lina had to debate about that. Her empty stomach won, and she went downstairs to the dining room. "Is Luna gone?" she asked when she got down there and her sister wasn't. 

"Yes, she is," her mother said proudly. "She went off to be a Knight of Ciepheed, you know! A Knight of Ciepheed! I always knew she was special! Luna, my daughter, is going to be a Knight of Ciepheed!" 

Quietly, Lina whispered to herself, "I'm your daughter, too..." 


	2. My Magic

After Luna left, Lina found she had nothing to do. Most of her free time used to be spent trying to be mean to her sister, or running away from her. With Luna gone, Lina's days seemed very empty. She was mostly left alone. If she wasn't left alone, she was being pestered to wear a dress and act like a young lady. 

About a week after Luna had gone away, Lina was sitting on her back in the grass near the road. She was just watching the clouds, because she had nothing else better to do. It was while she was doing this that she heard hooves again. That last time she heard them, they had taken Luna away. Maybe this time they would take her mother away? 

Lina sat up, and saw another horse-drawn coach stop in front of their house. Two men climbed out and stood up. The first man was tall and had red hair that reached his shoulders, like Lina's. The other man had brown hair with long sideburns and a beard. 

Quickly, Lina stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. The men noticed her, and the red-haired one said, "Could you go get your parents for us?" 

Lina nodded, and ran off towards the house. When she reached it, she ran right in, and said, out of breath, "Mommy, Daddy, there's some guys outside and they say they want you." 

"Lina, what have I told you about running in the house?" her mother asked, setting her embroidery aside and standing up. 

Her father stood up as well, and said, "Forget it. Let's see who these men are." Then he led Lina's mother out of the house, Lina right behind them. Maybe instead of taking just her mother away, those men would take her mother AND her father. 

The men by the road introduced themselves as Power Seekers for the Sorcerer's Academy. They were sent to find children with magical abilities and take them to the tower for training. 

"Oh, we're sorry," Lina's mother said, fanning herself nervously. "You see, Luna was already found by some men and was taken to be a Knight of Ciepheed." 

The red-haired man laughed, and said, "Yes, ma'am, we know." 

"Then why--" 

"We're not here for Luna," the bearded man said. 

Lina grinned triumphantly. "YAY! You're going to take my mom, right?" she asked, running around to the fore. 

Her mother's feathers immediately got in a ruffle. "Lina Inverse, how dare you? I should--" 

"Excuse me," the bearded man said. He smiled at Lina, and said, "We're not here for your sister, or your mother, or your father. We're here for you." 

Lina gasped, and a foolish grin spread across her face. "I get to use magic?" she asked incredulously. 

Her mother laughed, and said, "You must be mistaken, gentlemen, I assure you that Lina is not--" 

"We don't make mistakes," the red-haired man said sharply. "We have scried on this, and though she is younger than the other students, she does have great potential for powerful magic." 

Lina could just imagine it. Now her dreams could become reality. She could use magic! "When can we leave, can we leave now?" she asked quickly. 

"We'll leave as soon as you're ready," the Beard Guy said. 

"I'm ready, I'm ready, let's go!" Lina shouted. 

The redhead laughed, and said, "We can't go until your parents approve." 

"Can I go please, please, pretty please?" Lina asked, down on her knees. "Please-please-please-please?" 

Her mother huffed up, and said, "Absolutely not, Lina Inverse, you--" 

Interrupting, her father said, "You can go, Lina." 

Lina jumped up, her arms in the air, and shouted, "YAY!!" 

"How dare you?" her mother demanded, rounding on her father. "You have no right to give them permission to take my daughter away!!" 

"In case you've forgotten," her father said loudly. "She's my daughter as well. And up until now, you paid her no mind. I say let her go. She loves the thought of using magic, and it'll get her out into the real world. Take care of her," he added to the Power Seekers. "She can be a little hotheaded and reckless." 

The redheaded man grinned, and said, "We've gotten a lot of their kind lately." He then picked Lina up, and set her down in the coach, and got in beside her. The Beard Guy got in on the other side. Then both men said their farewells, and they rode off. 

Lina grinned widely, and looked up at both of the men. "Hey, how come you know where someone is?" 

"What?" the Beard Guy asked. 

"When someone has magic, how do you find them?" Lina rephrased. 

"Use our own magic," the redhead said. "We have these special places with scrying pools that let us search for something, and then have it show us the exact location." 

Lina nodded, and said, "Oh." 

The redhead smiled, and said, "By the way, my name is Micah, and my companion is Saul." 

"I'm Lina," she told them bluntly. The both of them chuckled after that. 

For the first half hour, Lina constantly asked them questions about magic and the academy, and they answered her as best they could. After that, they rode in comfortable silence. When they had been in the coach for about an hour or so, Lina slowly drifted off to sleep, her head leaning against Micah's arm. 

"Wake up," Micah said a few hours later, shaking Lina's shoulder a bit. "We're here." 

Lina groaned, and opened her eyes. "Huh? We're here?" she asked, suddenly wide awake. She sat straight, and looked around. The tall Academy Tower was looming right in front of them, it's pearly white surface glittering in the finals rays of the sunset. "Wow," was all Lina could say when she saw it. 


	3. Awesome Academy

The Academy was divided into several levels. There were the teaching levels, where Lina would be going, the study levels, where graduates came to read up on extra things, the experiment levels, where sorcerers would try out new spells, and several other "special magic" levels, like chimeras and summoning. 

In the teaching level, there were three students total. Aside from Lina, there was an eight-year-old girl named Adara, and a ten-year-old boy named Tate. Adara and Tate seemed to side together more often than not, since they had been friends before the Academy. 

Days at the Academy were very busy. When they woke up, the students had a quick breakfast, and then were pulled into Theory. The idea was that students had to learn ABOUT magic, before they could learn magic. Adara and Tate seemed to nearly fall asleep during that class, but Lina hung onto every word their teacher, Damion, said. 

After theory, they had to learn about all the individual spells they'd be taught, and what they did. They had to copy down the name, chant, and result for every spell they'd learn ten times. Adara and Tate did this stoically, and didn't really pay attention to what they were writing down, but Lina memorized nearly everything. 

When that was done, they had lunch before starting the actual casting. They weren't taught anything above Lighting or Levitation yet, since anything more could be dangerous in the hands of children. 

After Casting, they had library hour before bed. They had to stay in the library for exactly one hour and read about magic, whether it be theory or history. Adara and Tate usually got books down and then talked quietly behind them. Lina, however, devoured the books, wanting to learn everything she could about magic. 

Since Lina put forth so much effort into her classes, she naturally got better at it, and earned her the favor of Damion. This made Adara and Tate very jealous, and they were more than a little rude to her about it. Once, Tate poured water over Lina's papers. In return, Lina stole his golden necklace he kept in his room. Adara "accidentally" cut a lock of Lina's hair, making Lina need to cut it all to below her ears to even it out. In return, Lina stole some coins from a purse Adara kept by her bed. 

Whenever Lina stole something, she always justified herself by saying, "Stealing from bad people isn't bad." 

One day after they copied down the chant and effects for the spell "Mono Bolt," Lina skipped lunch and sneaked away to the empty Casting room. She'd read about a spell in the library a few days ago, and she wanted to try it out. It was called Aqua Create, which, as its name implied, created water. The spell didn't have a chant to go with it, and it seemed relatively easy, so Lina decided to try it. 

Technically, Lina wasn't supposed to do any spells without talking to Damion, the teacher, about it. But Lina wanted to keep it secret, so she did it without anyone knowing. She closed the door to the Casting room, and stood in the center. She concentrated on what the book read, and said, "Aqua Create." 

Instantly, a waterfall seemed to dump from the ceiling into the room. It lasted a few seconds, and then disappeared. The water was nearly to Lina's ankles. 

"What do I do?" Lina asked herself apprehensively. She'd get in serious trouble if she got found out. She hadn't read the reverse for the spell because she'd been so excited to try it. 

Before Lina could think of a solution, the door to the Casting room opened. She couldn't see who it was before the water flooded out and pushed them back. Lina dashed out of the room immediately, and back to the cafeteria. 

As soon as she got there, the bell rang to signal class changing. Lina walked back to the Casting room behind Adara and Tate, and prepared to look surprised when she saw water flooding out of the room. She honestly was surprised when the floors were all perfectly dry. 

Lina sat at her desk in shock, and looked up at Damion, who looked at her with a look that said he knew she'd done it. It was also a look that said he wanted to "talk" to her after class. 

That class, they worked on perfecting their Lighting spells. Lina had hers down pat. She could keep a light going for the entire class period if she didn't make it too bright. Tate's spell always died after a few seconds, and Adara always made hers too bright. Lina just sat with her light spell in her hand and watched as Damion tried to help them fix their spells. She was very aware of the fact that Tate and Adara threw nasty looks her way every chance they got. Lina then got to thinking of what she could take from them next for being mean. 

After class was over, Adara and Tate left, and Lina went up to Damion's desk. "Why did you cast a spell without permission, Lina?" he asked sternly. 

Knowing she couldn't deny that she'd done it, Lina hung her head, and said, "I just wanted to try it. I love magic, Mr. Damion," she told him, looking up at him again. "I want to learn everything about it and learn every spell. I read about it in a book in the library, and I knew how to do it, but I wanted to try it without Tate and Adara knowing, because then they'd get mad at me again." 

"Why would they get mad at you?" Damion asked, focusing on that subject. 

"They don't like me because I learn spells faster and I do them better and I do my work better," Lina said. "I think they're jealous, Mr. Damion, but that's not the point, you changed subjects!" 

Damion smiled, and said, "Yes, I did. Now, what do you suppose we do about your need for spells?" 

"You could let me practice them still?" Lina asked hopefully. 

Chuckling, Damion said, "We can't do that. Unless..." 

"Unless what?" Lina asked quickly. 

"Unless we get you a supervisor," Damion told her. "You can't practice spells by yourself, but I do realize that you're a higher level than Tate and Adara. If I can get someone to supervise you and guide you along with the higher magic in your free time, then you'd be able to practice." 

Lina grinned, and asked, "Really? Really really?" 

"Yes, really," Damion said. "Now, I think I could convince one of the Power Seekers to work with you..." 

"Could you ask Micah, please please?" Lina begged. "Please-please-please?" 

Laughing, Damion said, "I was just going to suggest him. I'll ask him tonight, now you run along and go to the library. And remember, don't practice anything without either me or Micah there with you, all right?" 

Lina nodded, and ran out of the room. 

"Oh, and Lina?" 

"Yes?" 

A more serious face on, Damion said, "Try not to steal from the other students. I understand that they're rude, but you have to find a better way of settling things." 

"Yes, sir," Lina said, before running off to the library. 


	4. Dangerous Duel

With Micah's help, Lina quickly learned a bunch of new spells, while Tate and Adara were still struggling with Levitation. Lina perfected the Aqua Create spell, along with Flare Arrow, Decleary, and Balus Rod. She also learned how to put up a defensive shield. By the time she was ten, Lina had a hefty arsenal of spells that the other students didn't know about. 

With Lina being ten, Tate was fourteen, and they had finally gotten the hang of some simple attack spells. Due to this, Tate challenged Lina one evening to a duel. Naturally, Lina accepted. They were to meet in the main corridor a midnight. 

At eleven-thirty, Lina got out of bed and pulled on her robe, tying it around her waist over her pajamas. She slipped out of her room, and tiptoed down to the main corridor. On any given day, the hallways were all deserted by eleven o'clock at the Academy. 

At quater 'till twelve, Tate showed up in his bathrobe and pajamas. "Ready?" he asked her. Lina nodded, knowing she'd win because she knew more spells than Tate did. Tate attacked first with a Flare Arrow. The spell shot off, but halfway to Lina it floundered, and hit the wooden floor, starting a small fire. 

"Uh-oh," Tate said, covering his mouth. 

Lina sighed in frustration, and said, "Mosu Varium." The spell vanquished the flames, and Lina took initiative in the duel. "Burst Rondo," she said. The balls of flame exploded around Tate, making him a little dizzy. 

"Bomb di Wind," Tate shouted. The wind went out of control, and ended up blowing a hole in the wall and knocking things off their stands. 

"Freeze Arrow!" 

"Flare Arrow!" 

"Balus Rod!" 

Tate put up a shield in time to keep the whip of light from hitting him. As of yet, neither student had done much harm to the other, but the damage to the hallway was considerable. 

Lina took advantage of Tate being occupied with the shield, and shouted, "Lighting!" She made the light incredibly bright, nearly blinding Tate. "Bomb di Wind!" Lina shouted. The jet of wind missed, blowing out another wall. 

"Just what is going on here?" Damion asked, coming down in his pajamas and night cap. "There is no excuse for students to be up this late, or for you to be doing spells outside of class! You know this!" 

Lina faced him, and said, "Mr. Damion, Tate challenged me to a duel, and I couldn't say no, and I didn't hurt him yet!" 

"It doesn't matter!" Damion shouted. "The both of you shall be punished. Tate, you're being punished for issuing the duel-- you know they're not allowed, and for damaging this hallway. Lina, you're punished for accepting the duel, and damaging this hallway. Now, go to bed, both of you!" 

Quickly, Lina shuffled away up to her room. Tate went the other way to his. 

The next day, they found out their punishment. "You two are to clean the Trophy Room by hand-- no magic!" 

The Trophy Room was a vast place with shelf after shelf covered with trophies and awards students and teachers won. It would take the whole day to clean it by hand. 

"I've disabled magic in there," Damion told them, ushering Lina and Tate to the room. "Call me when you think you're done." 

"This is your fault," Lina said, standing on a tall ladder with a bucket of water and a rag, polishing the trophies on one wall. 

"It's yours too," Tate said, doing the same as Lina on the opposite wall. 

"Is not," Lina told him. "You started the duel!" 

"I only challenged you because you act so snotty!" 

"Do not!" 

"Do too!" 

"Do not!" 

"Do too!" 

"Do NOT!" Lina shouted, accenting her fact by chucking her rag at Tate's face. 

Tate pulled the rag off, and threw it back at her, missing. Then he threw his own rag at her. "Do too!" 

Lina took her bucket, and flung the water in it at Tate. "Do not!" 

Tate threw his own water at Lina. "Do too!" 

Lina pelted her bucket at Tate, and missed, shouting, "Do not!" 

Throwing his own bucket back at Lina, Tate shouted, "Do too!" 

Furious, Lina reached behind her and grabbed a trophy, chucking it at Tate, but missing, and knocking down half a shelf of awards. "Do not!" 

Tate snatched a trophy from his wall, and threw it at Lina. "Do too!" 

After that, it became chaos. Both of them were throwing trophies back and forth, shouting insults and denials at one another, breaking display cases and awards and knocking everything around. Occasionally, a trophy would hit one of them, but it was never severe. It'd just start another furious round of insults. They were completely oblivious to all the noise they were making. 

"LINA INVERSE!! TATE DALTON!!" Damion shouted, coming into the room. "CURSE THE DAY YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE!! BOTH OF YOU, TO YOUR ROOMS THIS INSTANT!!" 

Meekly, Lina and Tate both scurried off to their rooms, heads down. Lina went inside, closed and bolted the door, and sat on her bed. She hugged her knees to her chest for a minute. Damion had yelled at her. He'd never done that before. It made her feel bad. She didn't want to upset Damion. Tate just really got on her nerves. 

After waiting about fifteen minutes, Lina crept out of her room. She tiptoed through the halls. On her way, she passed the trophy room, which looked as good as new. No doubt, Damion had used a Time-Reverse spell to put it back to before she and Tate had wrecked it. 

Lina kept walking, until she got to Damion's office. Damion had his head in his hands, and looked a little put-out. "Mr. Damion?" Lina asked quietly. 

Damion looked up sharply, and said, "I confined you to your room, Lina Inverse." 

"You don't really wish I never came here... do you?" Lina asked. 

Instantly, Damion's harsh face eased up, and he looked apologetic. "Of course not, Lina. You're an excellent student, and you've made so much progress... I'm glad you've come, really I am. I just wish you would try a little harder to not lose your temper." 

"I'm sorry," Lina said. 

Damion smiled, and asked, "Would you like me to tell you a story, Lina?" 

Lina nodded. She loved any stories about magic or legend or lore. She sat down beside Damion's desk, and prepared herself for a good story. 

"According to the legend, a long, long time ago, this world we live on had a great staff thrust into it." Damion started. "There was the world sitting on top of it smooth and round like... oh, how can I explain this?" He looked around for a bit, and picked up his sharp pointer, sticking a round pincushion on the end of it. "Take this pincushion on the end of my pointer, for example. Try to think of it like that," he said. 

Lina nodded. She could picture that. Damion had a way of telling stories so she understood them. 

"Around the edge of the world two groups waged an ancient battle," Damion continued. "One was the race of demons, the other the race of the Gods. Leading them were the Dark Lord Shabranigdo and Ciepheed the dragon God. The war raged for thousands of years. Finally, Ciepheed split Shabranigdo into seven parts, and sealed him somewhere in this world." 

"So Ciepheed beat him?" Lina asked interestedly. 

Damion shook his head, and said, "No, Lina, Shabranigdo was only imprisoned. 

"But you said he was split into seven pieces!" Lina protested. "That seems pretty dead to me!" 

Damion chuckled, and said, "He was split into seven pieces, but Shabranigdo was such a powerful Dark Lord that even that didn't kill him. And even though Ciepheed sealed him away, he used all his power to do such-- it took all his strength." 

"Okay, I got it," Lina said. "Keep going!" 

"Then, one thousand years ago," Damion went on. "The seven pieces of Shabranigdo were reborn. With the help of the Water Dragon King, Ciepheed sealed his body away again." 

Lina frowned, and said, "Well, that was pointless." 

"The powers of Ciepheed and Shabranigdo are still in constant battle," Damion said, ignoring Lina's little comment. "And because the balance of peace in this world was broken by them, all kinds of monsters were loosed. They began appearing to rule the earth," he concluded. 

"I liked that story," Lina said, smiling. "Thank you, Mr. Damion." She stood up, and hurried back to her room again to get some sleep. 


	5. Super Spells

When Lina was around thirteen, she was almost ready for her final exam before graduation. Tate and Adara still had a long way to go before they were ready to graduate. But Lina was in the library constantly, reading up on anything that could help her through her exam. 

Upon reading a book of powerful spells one day, Lina came across a spell she'd never heard of. This is what was in the book: 

_DRAGON SLAVE_   
_"Darkness beyond twilight._   
_Crimson beyond blood that flows._   
_Buried in the flow of time._   
_In thy great name, _   
_I pledge myself to darkness._   
_Let all the fools who stand _   
_Before me be destroyed_   
_By the power you and I posses._   
_Dragon Slave!"_   
_The Dragon Slave is the highest level spell that any sorcerer or sorceress can cast without the help of magical amplifiers of some sort. It calls upon power directly from the Dark Lord, Ruby-Eyed Shabranigdo. If the spell is cast correctly, it will explode in a mile-wide radius, usually leaving behind a smoking crater. _

"Wow," Lina said in awe. "That's COOL!!" She reread that page several times to commit it to memory. She would have to practice it first, but that spell could be useful even after her exam. After that, she kept reading, and found another high-level spell she'd never heard of. 

_GIGA SLAVE_   
_CAUTION: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CAST WITHOUT AMPLIFIERS_   
_"Darkness beyond blackest pitch._   
_Deeper than the deepest night._   
_King of Darkness who shines like gold_   
_Upon the Sea of Chaos._   
_I call upon thee!_   
_Swear myself to thee!_   
_Let the fools who stand _   
_Before me be destroyed_   
_By the power you and I posses!_   
_Giga Slave!"_   
_Use this spell with extreme caution. It calls upon power directly from the Dark Lord of all Dark Lords, the Lord of Nightmares. If this is miscast, it can destroy you and..._

The book said more, but Lina didn't read it. She didn't want to cast a spell that could destroy her, and besides that, she didn't have any magical amplifiers she could use. No, it was best to leave that spell alone. 

But, still, the chant stuck in her head. She wouldn't let herself forget it, but she'd never cast it, either. 

"Lina?" Micah called, coming into the library. "Lina, you have to come with me. You're about to start your final exam." 

Closing the book, Lina nodded, and followed Micah out. At the age of thirteen, Lina was the youngest student to ever graduate from the Sorcerer's Academy. Surprisingly, Lina didn't feel nervous at all about taking her exam. She followed Micah calmly and coolly to the platform outside. 

Damion was standing on the stage, and everyone who was at the Academy that day were in seats below it. Lina crossed the stage, and stood beside Damion. 

"Ladies and gentlemen," Damion said loudly. Instantly, everyone was quiet. "It is my great pleasure to introduce Lina Inverse, our youngest student here at the Academy, and the youngest ever to graduate." 

The crowd rose up in applause. The only ones not clapping were Tate and Adara, who still had years ahead of them. 

"Now, Lina," Damion said once the noise dies down. "For your final exam, you must go into that forest, and destroy the evil in there. Understand?" 

Lina nodded. 

"Good. Now, go," Damion said, leading her to the stairs. 

Lina took a steadying breath, and stepped off the stairs. As soon as her feet hit the grass, she took off at a run for the woods. Behind her, she heard the crowd clapping and cheering again for her success. She could just imagine Tate and Adara with their arms crossed, glowering at her back. Grinning, Lina entered the woods. 


	6. Exciting Exam

Once inside, she slowed to a walk. She listened carefully all around her, and thought she heard something. She went deeper into the woods, and peered through a cluster of trees into a clearing. Apparently, a bandit gang had built a stakeout there, not realizing how close they were to the Academy. 

Lina instantly assumed that was the evil in this forest. So she had to take out a bandit gang? Big deal. Lina stepped into the clearing, and before the guards could say a word, Lina shouted, "Fireball!" The guards were nothing more than toast and ashes. Lina went through the entire stakeout, Fireballing everything that moved. Bandits ran around shouting and trying to leave, but Lina didn't let them. 

Lina found out that when she cast so many explosive spells like that, it lowered her stress. She liked the idea lowering stress, getting rid of bad guys, and, of course, nabbing their treasure, so she decided that blowing up bandit gangs could be sort of a hobby. 

After every bandit was turned to a pile of charred ashes, Lina wandered around, looking for their cache. She found it, and started stuffing things into a brown sack. She came across a short sword with a blue scabbard. Unsheathing it, Lina saw that it was enchanted to give off light. Thinking that was pretty neat, Lina strapped it around her hips, and continued plundering the bandits' gold. 

When Lina figured she had enough treasure, she headed for the Academy again, thinking that the exam was way too easy. It was after the dozens of lesser demons and lycanthropes arrived that she found out she'd only done part of her exam. 

The monsters all advanced on her slowly. Lina knew her limits, and she knew that she couldn't take all of them out one by one, or they'd come up on her before she'd killed them all. That meant she had to get them all with one big spell. But what? 

Suddenly, the spell from the book came to mind-- the Dragon Slave. Could she try that without practicing first? It was her only chance if she was to defeat all of those monsters. 

Lina set down her treasure bag, and backed up a little to give herself some casting time before the monsters got too close. She held her hands up, and thought back to the page in the book. Uncertainly, she started the chant. 

_"Darkness beyond twilight._   
_Crimson beyond blood that flows._   
_Buried in the flow of time._   
_In thy great name, _   
_I pledge myself to darkness._   
_Let all the fools who stand _   
_Before me be destroyed_   
_By the power you and I posses._   
_DRAGON SLAVE!!"_

The red-hot energy of the spell shot out of her hands, and wavered a little bit, before impacting with the ground in front of the monsters, and exploding. The book said the explosion should encompass a radius of a mile, but Lina's was about half hat size, which was pretty good for a first try on a spell. Most sorcerers wouldn't have been able to cast that spell on their first try. 

But the spell did its job. Every last demon and shape-shifter was dead. Lina sighed in relief, and headed back for the Academy. She'd read somewhere that if a spell was miscast, it could reverse. She was glad she'd done the spell right. 

When she got back to the Academy, sweaty and dirty, and covered in ash, the crowd all stood up in a huge round of applause. It was then that Lina remembered she left her treasure in the woods. She cursed quietly, and decided to go after it later. 

Lina walked up on the stage, and stood before Damion. He grinned widely, and said, "Lina Inverse, I hereby announce that you are officially graduated from the Sorcerer's Academy. As proof of your time spent here, I award you with a spell-proof bandanna." Damion held out the black bandanna. Lina took it, and instantly tied it around her hair. 

"Now, Lina Inverse, you may go off and do whatever catches your interest," Damion said. "Good wanderings." 

Lina smiled, and nodded. She then turned and walked off the stage, heading for the woods. Before she got there, she turned and looked at the crowd. She saw Tate and Adara grumbling with their arms crossed. She saw Micah and Saul applauding loudly. She also saw-- Luna! Gasping, Lina turned tail and ran for the woods. Even in the concealing forest, she still ran. She didn't even pause to grab her treasure, just snatched it up on her way past. 

Thus, Lina Inverse started her life as a sorceress-for-hire. 


	7. Strange Sidekick

About a year later, the name Lina Inverse was well known throughout the bandit gangs. Her little "hobby" of blowing up gangs earned her a reputation as the Bandit Killer. So it was no surprise that Lina was found at another bandit gang, blowing up everything in her sight. She smiled to herself when she'd taken out the last of the bandits, and headed to their cache. 

Inside the tent was a girl with long black hair who was sparsely clothed in black leather, revealing her... um... large features, and was tied up in chains. Her face was flushed, and she looked more than a little drunk. 

"Who're you?" the girl asked when Lina stepped it. 

"I'd ask the same of you," Lina said. "How you get tied up like that?" 

The girl hiccuped, confirming Lina's suspicions that she was drunk, and said, "I was jus' wandering around, and I got attacked by a bazillion bandits and shtuff..." 

Lina rolled her eyes, and untied the girl from the chains. The girl looked Lina up and down, and said, "You're not a girl. You don't have breasts... you can't be a girl..." 

Lina blushed bright red, and demanded, "What did you say?" 

"You're a boy," the girl said drunkenly. "Thank you for saving me, Mr. Whoever-you-are..." 

"DIL BRAND!!" Lina shouted angrily, blasting the well-endowed girl. She landed back on the ground, charred and unconscious. Lina crossed her arms, and said, "I do too have breasts!" She then lifted her spirits again by snatching some treasure. When she was about to leave, she debated. Should she leave that girl there? 

Before Lina could decided, the girl woke up, and walked over to Lina, laughing loudly. "OHOHOHO!! You tricked me!! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Naga the White Serpent, the world's greatest sorceress!" 

"No you aren't," Lina said. "I, Lina Inverse, am the greatest sorceress!" 

"OHOHOHO! How can a flat-chested little girl possibly be the world's greatest sorceress?" Naga laughed, pointing at Lina's chest. 

Lina's face flushed in anger and embarrassment, and she shouted again, "DIL BRAND!!" Naga was blasted into the air again, and lands heavily, charred and out of it. Sighing, Lina decides that it's too dark to keep going, so she sets up camp right there in the bandits' stakeout. 

* * *

In the morning, Lina woke up to an annoying laugh. "Wake up, Lina!" Naga called. Lina crawled out of her tent, and looked sleepily up at Naga. 

"I have decided," Naga said with a laugh that made her breasts bounce. "I will cooperate with you, Lina Inverse. We will be partners, the two best sorceresses in the world! How's that?" 

Nodding and yawning, Lina said, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's go... I want to get to town." 

The two of them set off along the trail, Lina slinging the bag of treasure over her shoulder, and Naga recounting how exactly she was captured by those bandits. Lina assumed that Naga was probably some wanna-be sorceress trying to increase her standing by hanging around someone more powerful than her. 

They reached the city around noon, and instantly a man ran down the street, and asked, "Are you Lina Inverse?" When Lina nodded, and asked, "Who's this woman?" 

"I am Naga's foremost rival--" Naga started, but Lina interrupted her. 

"She's my sidekick, Naga," Lina explained. 

Naga asked plaintively, "Why'd you do that, Lina?" 

"Anyway!" Lina said loudly, ignoring Naga. "What do you want with me?" 

The man said, "There's something going on up at my home! Everyone in town is too afraid to handle it!" 

Lina cast the man a sidelong glance, and asked, "How much are you willing to pay?" 

"I'll gladly give you thirty gold," the man said quickly. 

Grinning, Lina said, "All right!! Where's this house of yours?" 

When the man took Lina and Naga to his house, they saw what was wrong. A high-pitched cackle was coming from inside the house, and items were being launched off at high speed into the air or off into the distance. 

Lina and Naga got closer, and peeked up in a window. Inside was a strange, pale man dressed in red and white, and it seemed that he was the one sending things flying off. Lina and Naga ran around to the front, and Lina kicked the door open. 

The crazy man took one look at them, and started laughing maniacally again. He waved his hand at them, and Naga took off into the air at a rapid speed, just like the other items. She screamed loudly as she was carried off into the distance. 

Lina didn't even watch her fly off, she just faced the crazy laughing man and shouted, "Fireball!" The spell impacts with the guy's chest, and explodes. When Lina looks again, the man is nothing more than ash on the floor. The laughing stopped, and the flying items all dropped to the ground. Lina grinned when she imagined Naga falling out of the air somewhere. 

After going back to the man and receiving his thanks and his gold, Lina continued her wandering, wondering only momentarily about where Naga was. 

_From here, the story picks up in the OVAs or OAVs or whatever. You know what I mean... the Lina-Naga adventures. Well, did you like it? At all? Even a little? Guess not... oh, well... ANYWAY! Thanks for reading, and stuff like that... please review? _


End file.
